Grade by Grade
B. Drama / D. Visual Arts · Drama and Visual Arts

Visual Arts: Variety, This Year's Principle of Design

D1.2 D2.1 D2.2About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can explain that variety means using different lines, shapes, colours, sizes and textures to make art interesting.
  • I can make slight changes on one theme to add variety while keeping my art together.
  • I can plan a composition for a narrative art work or an art work on a theme.
  • I can find and explain variety in art works, and share how they make me feel.

Words to know

principle of design
A way artists arrange the elements (line, shape, colour, texture, space, value) in an art work.
variety
Using different lines, shapes, colours, sizes and textures to make art interesting to look at.
theme
The main idea or topic of an art work, like "winter fun" or "my garden".
variation
A small change to something, like the same leaf shape drawn in a new colour or size.
composition
How all the parts of an art work are arranged on the page.
narrative art
Art that tells a story.

Remember from Grade 1 and Grade 2

In Grade 1, your principle of design was contrast: putting very different things side by side, like light and dark. In Grade 2, it was repetition and rhythm: using the same colour, shape or line again and again.

This year's big principle of design is variety.

The same, the same, the same...

Imagine a picture with six identical blue circles in two neat rows. Now imagine another picture with a big circle, a tiny circle, a thick ring, a triangle, a square, a zigzag line and a dot, in different colours and sizes.

Which one makes your eyes want to keep looking? Most people choose the second one. That's variety!

A red maple leaf, a yellow leaf, two stones, a pine cone, a snail shell, an acorn and a striped feather on a wooden table.
Nature is full of variety: different shapes, sizes, colours, lines and textures. Which object would you draw first? AI-generated image
little varietyvariety
Left: six identical circles have little variety. Right: different shapes, sizes, lines and colours add variety.

What is variety?

Variety means using differences in an art work to make it interesting. You can vary:

  • line: thick, thin, wavy, zigzag
  • shape: circles, triangles, curvy natural shapes
  • colour: warm and cool, tints and shades
  • size: big, medium, tiny
  • texture: smooth, bumpy, fuzzy

Variety keeps the viewer's eyes moving and exploring.

Variety needs a theme

If you put every different thing on one page, it can look messy. Good artists use variations on a theme: they keep one big idea and change small things.

  • A pile of fall leaves: all leaves (the theme), but each one a different colour, size and shape.
  • A school of fish: all fish, but with different patterns and stripes.
  • A garden: all flowers, but different heights, petals and colours.

Variety can also come from strong contrasts, like one tiny bright bird in a big dark forest.

Theme: fish (the same). Variety: size, colour, pattern (different).
A school of fish: variations on a theme. Every fish is a fish, but sizes, colours and patterns change, so your eyes keep exploring.

Variety in art from many places

  • Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist, painted Squares with Concentric Circles (1913): a grid of squares, each with circles inside. Every square has different colours. It's a great example of variations on a theme.
  • Christi Belcourt, a Métis artist, paints many kinds of plants and flowers using thousands of tiny dots, inspired by Métis beadwork. Each plant is different, but they all belong together.
  • Henri Matisse, a French artist, made big pictures from cut paper shapes, like The Snail. The shapes have different sizes, colours and edges.
  • Mexican papel picado (cut paper banners) hang in a row. Each banner has its own cut design and colour.

Composition: planning your picture

Composition is how you arrange everything on the page. When you plan, ask:

  • What is my theme or story? (A theme like "winter fun", or a story like "the day our dog ran into the pond".)
  • Where will the most important part go?
  • How will I add variety? Different sizes, colours, lines and textures.
  • What will keep it together? The theme, or a colour that repeats.

Art that tells a story is called narrative art.

Worked example

Example: Adding variety to a dull drawing

Sam drew a garden: five flowers, all the same size, all with round petals, all in one colour, in a straight row. Let's add variety but keep the theme (a garden).

  1. Size: make one sunflower tall, two flowers medium and two short.
  2. Shape: give some flowers pointy petals, some round, and add tulips shaped like cups.
  3. Colour: use warm reds and oranges and cool violets, plus a few tints.
  4. Line and texture: add a fuzzy bee, wavy grass and dotted seeds in the sunflower.
  5. Keep it together: every flower still has a green stem and sits in the same garden.

The garden now has variety in size, shape, colour, line and texture, but it still feels like one garden: a variation on a theme.

Just for fun

Joke: Why were the six identical circles so bored?

They kept going around in circles!

Worked example

Example: Finding variety in an art work

Imagine a painting by Christi Belcourt: dozens of flowers, leaves, berries and vines, all made of tiny dots, on a dark background. Let's respond and analyze.

  1. I notice: many different plants: some with big petals, some tiny berries, curly vines and pointed leaves.
  2. I feel: amazed and peaceful, because it is like looking closely at a whole meadow.
  3. I think: the variety of plants shows how many different living things grow together on the land.
  4. What keeps it together? Every part is made of dots, and the dark background repeats all around.

The painting has variety (many plants, shapes and colours) and unity (the dots and dark background), which helps show the idea that many living things belong together.

Hands-on activity

One theme, many ways

You need: paper, a pencil, and crayons, markers or coloured pencils.

  1. Choose a theme: fish, leaves, mittens, birds, snowflakes or houses.
  2. Fold your paper into 6 boxes.
  3. Draw your theme once in each box, but make each one different: change the size, lines, colours, patterns and textures.
  4. Now make a narrative picture using your favourite three: for example, three fish in a story ("the little striped fish finds its family").
  5. Show a family member and explain: "I added variety by..." and "My picture stays together because...".

Your turn

1

What is this year's principle of design?

2

Name four things you can vary in an art work.

3

Why might a picture with too much variety look messy?

4

What does variations on a theme mean?

5

What is narrative art?

6

How did Kandinsky use variety in Squares with Concentric Circles?

7

Look at your clothes today. Is there variety? Explain.

More practice: warm-up

1

Which principle of design did you learn in Grade 2?

2

True or false: Six identical circles in a row show lots of variety.

3

How you arrange things on the page is called ___.

4

Name one way to vary size.

5

Which Métis artist paints plants with thousands of tiny dots?

More practice: on your own

1

Add variety to this snowman: three circles, all the same size, no face, no clothes.

2

A picture of a fall forest has trees in red, orange, yellow, brown and green. What keeps it together, and what adds variety?

3

Plan a narrative art work about your first time skating. What is the most important part, and where will you put it?

4

How does one tiny bright red cardinal in a big snowy grey forest show variety?

5

How does a row of papel picado banners show variety and repetition at the same time?

Challenge

1

Explain the difference between repetition (Grade 2) and variety (Grade 3). Can one art work use both?

2

Design a quilt square pattern with variations on a theme using hearts. Describe three hearts.

3

Why do you think artists like Christi Belcourt show many different plants together in one painting? Think about the land.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Variety in art means ___.

2.

Which picture shows the most variety?

3.

Keeping one big idea but changing small things is called ___.

4.

Art that tells a story is ___.

5.

How things are arranged on the page is the ___.

6.

What could make a picture with lots of variety still feel together?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: The Grade 3 principle of design is variety (Grade 1 was contrast; Grade 2 was repetition and rhythm). Students show understanding of composition using principles of design to create narrative art or art on a theme (D1.2), explain how artists use elements and principles (D2.2), and share feelings and ideas about art (D2.1).

How to help:

  • Look at picture books and fabrics: "What's different? What stays the same?"
  • Collect fall leaves and arrange them: one theme, lots of variety.
  • Ask "How could you add variety?" when your child draws, rather than "Add more."

Common difficulties:

  • Thinking variety means "more stuff". Variety is about differences, held together by a theme.
  • Everything the same size. Suggest one big, a few medium, some tiny.

Indigenous art: when looking at works by Métis artists like Christi Belcourt, name the artist and the Nation, and connect to living traditions such as Métis floral beadwork.